Trading Update (1824V)
January 09 2012 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMNGS
RNS Number : 1824V
Manganese Bronze Hldgs PLC
09 January 2012
Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC
Trading Update
9 January 2012
Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC ("Manganese Bronze" or the
"Group"), the leading manufacturer of the distinctive London Taxi,
today provides an update on current trading.
Current Trading
Trading continues to be impacted by the weakening UK economy and
uncertainty over global macro economic conditions. In the UK, sales
of TX4 taxis in Q4 of 2011 were 328 versus 384 in Q4 of 2010, a
decline of 14.6%. This brings the UK sales for the year ended 31
December 2011 to 1,502 units compared to the 1,653 vehicles sold in
the UK in 2010, a fall of 9.1% year on year. Overall, 754 vehicles
were sold in H2 of 2011, compared to 748 in H1 of 2011.
The unresolved Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and its potential
impact on banks has undermined confidence within the global banking
community and made it more difficult to secure finance for
international trade. An Irrevocable Documentary Credit was issued
on 29 December 2011 to cover the last 500 vehicles of the
Azerbaijan order of 1,000 taxis which were originally due to be
shipped in October 2011. It is currently anticipated that these
vehicles will be despatched by 30 January 2012. Because of the
delay in securing finance, international sales for the quarter
ended 31 December 2011 were only 14 vehicles, bringing the total
for the year to 705 vehicles (2010: 226 vehicles).
The overall impact of lower UK sales and the delayed fulfilment
of the Azerbaijan order will prevent the Group from achieving a
profitable result for the year ended 31 December 2011. Whilst a
proportion of this shortfall should be recovered when the delayed
Azerbaijan sales are recorded in 2012, any continued softening of
global economic conditions would mean that the Group is likely to
fall short of meeting expectations for the current year.
Geely
Relationships between the Group and Geely continue to be very
positive as they continue to work together closely on the launch of
Geely products in the UK later this year, the development of the
TXN, the saloon-car based taxi scheduled for introduction in 2014,
and other business opportunities.
For further information, please contact:
Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC
John Russell, Group Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)24 7657 2108
Peter Johansen, Group Finance Director Tel: +44 (0)24 7657 2214
FTI Consulting
Nick Hasell/Sophie Moate Tel: +44 (0)20 7269 7291
Grant Thornton UK LLP
Philip Secrett/Melanie Frean Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 5100
Cautionary statement
The Current Trading Update contains certain forward-looking
statements. These are made by the Directors in good faith based on
the information available to then up to the time of their approval
of this statement and such statements should be treated with
caution due to the inherent uncertainties, including both economic
and business risk factors. Further updates will be made in due
course.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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